Muscat to Dubai on Road - Part II

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If you are planning for the Dubai for the first time and you are traveling by yourself and your family without going to vacation planners, it could be really ardent task to come up with an itinerary to fit your family and self-energy level.

If you are couple and have smaller kids, the below itinerary could help in planning your Dubai trip to get best of the time in the Manhattan of Gulf!!

So here it goes, if you are hitting road and have ample time like 6-7 days, you could cover important cities of UAE namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

In case you have 3-4 days you can pick and choose the itinerary.

Day 1 - Leave Muscat by 7 am, travel on the route towards Sohar, you can take expressway and connect just before Barka. And travel further towards Sohar.

The total distance till Hatta Border is around 315 kms from Qurum.
The distance from Hatta Border to Dubai downtown (Burj Khalifa) is around 135 Kms.

There are three ways to Dubai

1. Hatta Border - This is most popular with expats who needs visa on arrival. Once you cross Oman border and past UAE Border post, you will pass through two checkpoints as you enter Oman again and exit Oman to enter UAE. This is avoided in Khatmat Malaha route.

2. Hatta Border- Deviation towards Kabah Road, which leads to Sharjah road.

3. Khatmat malaha - this is quite popular with Omanis and Emirates. As there is only one border to cross and the roads are new.

As you close in the border, you will find the Oman security Building, don't drive past this building as there is no sign to tell you that, you have to get your passport the exit stamp. Otherwise, you will hit UAE border driving 10 Kms from this place.

Once you move past the UAE border, do plan to buy in Salik. Once you have your salik fixed to your Car front glass, you are all set to drive the expressway of Dubai.

It would be a good idea to drive to your hotel and take good rest for the day and probably step out to have dinner out of your hotel.

Day 2 - The best way to explore the city the first day is to just use the BIG BUS route and cover the entire route of the map. This would provide you complete insight into Dubai city and familiarize with the roads. You can complete the whole city driving in 2-3 hours.

http://dubaimap360.com/carte/image/en/dubai_bus_tour.jpg

If you are a South Indian, you should definitely try Amaravathi for Andra Dishes and Swadisth for the Mangalore breakfast, which are in Karama. Parking is available adjacent to Amaravathi.

In the evening, plan for Dubai Mall- water front, where there is this beautiful water fountain which plays every half an hour. It would be good idea to plan your dinner in one of those restaurants.  Yes, parking there are number of parking spaces around the Burj Khalifa, you can park within Dubai Mall or you can go around the Blvd. and get into parking P3 or P2 and park just across the Downtown and walk across to Water front.  Don't forget to take a walk down the sheikh Mohammed Blvd road, it is one of the most beautiful Dubai downtown.

Day 3:  If you want to utilize best time, then it is better to book your Burj Khalifa -At the Top around 10 am to 11 am. It would take about 2 hours to complete this. You can have good food in Dubai mall. And visit the aquarium and zoo. It costs around 100 AED per person.

Once you finish this, you can head towards Palm Islands and visit Lost chambers, you have biggest aquarium inside the hotel. It would cost about 75 AED/person.

Updated:
If you have young kids- never miss Kidzania, your child will have his lifetime experiacing various role plays. It starts from 10 am to 11 pm - i woud recommend ateast to spend 5-6 hours in here along with you kid.

Day 4:  You can go to Dolphin Aquarium, it is one of exciting show you will watch ever, not only children will enjoy , even for adults it’s a great treat to watch these sweet creature performing what they do !!!

You can also watch exotic birds performing in the same location.

 Once you finish this, you could book penguin encounter on the same day and spend the rest of the day in Ski Dubai, Mall of Emirates.

Book your tickets for dolphin and penguin shows in advance.

Day 5 Leave home by 10 am to Abu Dhabi, on the way you reach Emirates Zoo, this is pretty good place for kids. They would enjoy seeing various animals.

From here you can move towards the Emirates Palace, and enjoy the beauty of the skyline.

It would be good to plan to visit the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in the evening, the lighting of the Mosque and the interiors transforms you to different world.



If you happen to visit marina Mall, do visit Turmeric - Indian restaurants, the north Indian food is just amazing.

You can use the Big Bus map to drive through major attraction points in night to see the skyline of Abu Dhabi. Its beautiful !!!

http://www.city-discovery.com/docs/462_6839_AbuDhabiMap_Feb142.jpg

Day 6: You can plan to go for parks ,

Updated:

Butterly Garden - This is small inhouse garden where you can find various kind of butterfly in gardens. Kids will love it. Need maximu 1.5 to 2 hours.
Miracle Garden - This is beutiful outdoor garden - where you will find flowers assembled in various shapes and houeses. Its very colorful and refreshing to see so many colors together. require 2-3 hours.
IMG - Is indoor Theme Park with rides, 4D, 5d Shows, very unique experiance for whole family.






Day 7:
Lego Land, Lego water park, Motion gate - lego land needs half day and water park needs about 3 hours.  Evening you can cover Bollywood theme park.
It needs minimum 1 ful day.

Day 8: There are various options, either
Yas islands
Wild Wadi

Dreamsland in Sharjah, depends on how adventurous you are.

It would be good if you also go Desert Safari, it starts from 3pm to 9 pm.

Useful Links to book online

At the Top -https://tickets.atthetop.ae/atthetop/Step2_2_SelectTime.aspx

Penguin Encounter -https://skidxb.skischoolshop.com/en/penguin_encounter/
Ifly - http://www.theplaymania.com/ifly
Dolphin Aquarium & Creek Park Exotic Bird Show -http://www.dubaidolphinarium.ae/


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Muscat to Dubai by road - Part 1 The Preparation

Muscat to Dubai by road provides all the information needed to make a great vacation stress free.
In this blog, you will learn how to prepare for the journey and what it takes to make it successful.


Things required :

1. Visa - You will need to apply for e-visa online to get entry to UAE.
          https://www.gdrfa.ae/GCCIND/switchLocale.do?userAction=switchToEnglish
          - you will need to digital photo,
         -  Passport First page and last page scanned image,
          - Scanned Sultanate of Oman Stamping page
          - Resident card copy
Note - all the images should be less then 100 KB.
Use the below site to compress the image size - http://jpeg-optimizer.com/
Once you approve there are three possibilities

1st possibility - They might ask you for more Information
                          note- You will get first notification of any such requirements, if they are asking for more two or more time, you might not get the notification on mail. It is required for you to check the status using the UAE - website again and again till the status are updated with E-Visa.

2nd possibility - Without any Further requirements, you can check the status and download your e-visa. There is no certain turn around time.


Alternate ways of applying for your spouse:
If you are working and your spouse is on dependent visa, then  you apply for Visa first and once you receive your visa, apply for your family, with your visa scanned copy and passport copy as sponsor.




2.  Car documents -
You will have to check your car insurance, you need to have valid mulki. As the UAE authorities ask for mulki inspection.  I did see that there was insurance company sitting, where you can buy insurance. But it is always better to have the documents in place.

And importantly check whether your insurance covers UAE region.


3. Currency :
You can exchange the currency in Muscat itself before you start your journey.

4.  Food & water :
No worries - the whole journey is filled with eating joints and once you enter UAE, even in petrol station 24/7 shops you will find variety of food.

5. Petrol :
You can have your car filled up with the petrol, and there are petrol banks throughout the journey, even near borders you can fill up the car tank.
Total journey from Muscat to Hatta Border - 315 kms
and from Hatta Border to Dubai - 153 Kms  ( Route 1)
From Hatta to Dubai via Al Malaiha (193 Kms)

6. Documents needed: ( Before and After )

Passport
Residence Card
Mulki - (UAE coverage)

On arrival, the UAE authorities will provide yellow forms after they issue visa stamping. Keep this yellow form carefully, as  when you return back to Oman, you will have to return it to Departure Counter.

And Once you are coming back from UAE border, you will reach Oman Check-post, they will issue white slip, keep this carefully. As you cross the Oman border, you will have to show this white slip to authorities they will stamp the entry to Oman and stamp behind this white slip and return back to you. You are not done with the white slip yet. As you drive forward and start driving moving beyond the Oman Visa Authority , you will encounter your final checking authority, who will ask for this white slip stamped by visa authority, you can give it back to them and then move on towards Muscat.



7. Salik Card  :

Once you enter UAE, you take Dubai-Hatta Road, you will not find the salik card in atleast 3 petrol station. Once you cross the two checkpost in this road, you will find Dubai Zoo display, after that there is a petrol station, where you will fill form to get the salik card for 100 AED. 50 AED will be deposited to your account.

Once you receive your salik card, its not yet over, you will need to activate it by calling the call center, mind you if you are calling from your oman mobile you will not be able to reach the customer care. call from local mobile and activate it. Once you activate it, they will provide you account number with PIN number, without which you will not be able to recharge your card.


8. Google Maps :

Not but least, google maps is the only saving grace for the new travellers to UAE.  Omantel offers few options related  roaming data package.
 type  J and send it to  91199 to get
1 GB of data for 7 days
500 MB - 3 days
200 MB - 1 day

This is of great resource, especially going around in Dubai becomes good experience !!!

 9. Itinerary Preparation:

It is good idea to book your programs before hand to loose out on time and standing in long queues.
Few are listed below - if children are accompanying  :

• Burj Khalifa - At the top  - 4.30 pm and 5 PM shows are always sold out before one week- you can get to see the Dubai in Day time and night time, if you can get your booking in this slot. 
• Encounter with Penguins - each batch as only 13 members, so it is important that you book this and go.
• Dolphin Aquarium - its good idea to book before hand for 11 am show.

With this you are pretty much set for the long journey to City of Gold.  Will continue few more experiences in next part.